This document provides a summary of a book on second language acquisition. It discusses the author's background and motivation for writing the book. The book is organized into three parts that cover universal influences on SLA, factors explaining individual differences, and the social dimensions of language learning. Some strengths of the book are that it presents many insights from an interdisciplinary perspective and points to potential new areas of research. Some issues that could be improved are reducing technical jargon, including a glossary, streamlining sections, and considering separate books for graduate students versus researchers.

1. Faculty of Humanities
Department of English Language and literature
Post-Graduate studies
Compiled by: Aman Matebie
June, 2022
Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

2. A Review of

3. About the author
 Lourdes Ortega is a Spanish-born American linguist. She is currently a professor of applied
linguistics at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on second language acquisition
and second language writing.
 Place of birth: Cádiz, Spain
 Affiliation: Georgetown University
 Research interests: SLA
 Education: University of Cádiz

4. Why the author was motivated to write the book?
 Looked at the text book with suspicion
 unwitting tools for the inclusion and exclusion of what counts as validated work
 Less “tellable” details (coherence and linearity)
 One sided views of any field. they portray disciplines as frozen in time and space
 a certain schizophrenia is there in writing for an imagined audience of students
 benefits of the students
 engagement
 Contagiousness
 Teaching experience (frequent questions, comments, reactions, complaints and
amazements)

5. Organization of the book
I. Universal influence of
L2 Acquisition
II. Factors that help explain
individual differences
III. Social Turn in SLA

6. Introduction

 About language?
 Description (phonetics & phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics
 Evolution (whence and why questions)—origin of language
 Acquisition (How does the human capacity to make meaning through
language )
Recently
 bilingualism,
 psycholinguistics,
 education,
anthropology and
sociology
SLA began---- from language
teaching, linguistics, child
language acquisition and
psychology (1960)
(Huebner, 1998)

7. Definition
 L1 Acquisition--- the development of the first language in children who grow monolingual.
 Bilingualism--- mature bilingual capabilities of children or adults who grow up with two or
more languages from birth.
 SLA---- investigates additional language learning in late childhood, adolescence or adulthood
and focuses on the pathways towards becoming competent in the second language.

8. SLA : born from questions
 Age of Onset
How early or late in life one should start to learn an additional language?
 Rate of Acquisition
How long should it take to learn the majority language? How long is long enough to learn L2
language?
 Ultimate attainment
The absolute potential for complete acquisition of the L2 for different people under various
learning circumstances
 Effective instruction
Which teaching/learning theory, approach or method best facilitates L2 learning? Or Naturalistic or
Formal language acquisition?
natural language meaning-making processes or explicitly taught grammar and vocabulary

9. Part I: Universal Influence of L2 Acquisition
 shape the nature, pace, route and finish line in the path towards learning a second language.
 Most important and well studied sources are
1. Age
2. Cross linguistic influence
3. The linguistic environment
4. Cognition
5. Development of learner language
6. Foreign language aptitude

10. 1. Age
 In terms of rate, learners after puberty is better initially (Krashen)
(Particularly demand cognitive maturity and involve metalinguistic skills)
 After five years, early starters catch up and are better than late starters of
 May not work for EFL
 Again after five years,
the other advantage has not been observed.

11. L2 Ultimate attainment
 Most L2 learners before puberty,
will develop levels of morphosyntactic and phonological competence
 They are very close native speakers
 However, post pubertal learners are not likely to perform in the native speaker range.
 These don’t consider the number of years they have resided in the L2 environment.

12. Exceptions
 observed success and failure tendencies associated with age exist.
 some adult starters can achieve native-like levels in their L2
 high motivation and high quality of instruction
 Conversely, an early start does not guarantee complete and successful L2 acquisition in all
cases.
 Early starters of L2 (2-4) may be differ from natives in different ways.
 associated with high L1-use levels (with high L1 activation or dominance)
Julie, an exceptionally successful L2 user.

13. SLA researchers: do generally say what?
1. CPH- after a certain age, it is biologically impossible for the human brain to use the same
processes that were involved in learning the L1. (Nurologists)
 ( lateralization, plasticity, myelination)
 No available empirical evidence
2. pre-existing knowledge of the L1 should be considered (Non-biologists)
3. socio-educational and affective-motivational forces should be emphasized (Others)

14. Conti..
 bilingualism effects (e.g. L1–L2 interactions)
 language activation and dominance effects (i.e. relative amounts of L1
versus L2 use)
cognitive processing shaped by
experience
+

15. 2. Cross-linguistic influence
L1 can universally influence the process and the outcomes
of L2 learning
Using linguistic features from L1 (TRANSFER) is not an
easy task
 Contrastive analysis
 Awkward transliteration from L1 (and.hulet)
 Pre-existing knowledge of L1 can accelerate or delay L2
learners progress of Devt. pathways ( natural order)
 But, it neither predetermines or alters the pathways

16. Transferability can be determined by
1) Markedness-- sound systems of all natural languages
implies necessary feature of another feature.
Voiced/voiceless
2) psychological perceptions of transferability
3) inherent complexity of the L2 subsystem in question
4) proficiency level.

17. Conti…..
L1 transfer does not happen mechanistically .
 It is about tendencies and probabilities
Deliberately or not, learners work on the basis of Principles
1. what works in the L1 may work in the L2 because human
languages are basically alike
2. If it sounds too L1-like, it will probably not work in the L2’.

18. 3. The linguistic environment
 Environmental components contribute for optimal L2 learning
A) Acculturated attitudes
positive attitudes towards TL and its speakers
abundant and meaningful communication are not sufficient
 But, both are certainly important ingredients in a highly complex
environmental circumstances.

19. Conti…
B) Comprehensible input
The environment can serve as to perform tasks beyond the learners level (more complicated)
C) Negotiated interaction--oral interaction in which communication problems are negotiated
between participants pro motes L2 comprehension and production
 Negotiating for meaning
 Negotiating of forms
 Negative feedback of varying degrees of explicitness may carry potential for L2 learning

20. Conti….
To a nut shell:-
 ‘what’s out there’ physically or even socially
surrounding learners is not the matter of Linguistic
environment
but rather what learners make of it,
how they process (or not) the linguistic data and
how they live experience that environment are the
basic concerns

21. 4. Cognition
 Cognition refers to how information is processed and learned by the human mind
information processing
theory
Automatic and
controlled operation
Cognitive resources
(attention and memory
are limited)
Made up of
representation and
access
Skill Acquisition theory

22. L2 learning is the process of gradual transformation of
performance from
controlled
automatic
Via Proceduralization (meaningful practice
sustains over time)
Automatization ---automatic performance
that goes beyond sheer speed

23. Conti…
 Considering working memory (issue of storage and processing), the following questions are
raised.
A) is attention thought to be central to understanding L2 learning?
Is L2 learning possible
B) without intention? ……reading for pleasure
C) without attention? ….quality?
D) without awareness?......
E) without rules? …low level associative learning may be learnt

24. 5. Development of Learner Language
 Issues are raised, here, in the perspective of inter-language studies
 emphasizes general cognitive explanations for the development of L2 morphology and syntax
 Inter-language -- language system that each learner constructs at any given point in
development (Selinker :1972)
It is more than Target input L1 influence

25. Conti…
 New grammar rule can be developed by the help of memory
of formulas and experience
“the manifestation of proposed mechanisms by which
learners develop (or fail to develop) their internal grammars.
Four processes
I. Simplification
II. Overgeneralization
III. Restructuring
IV. U- shaped behaviour

26. Conti…
I. Simplification – reflects a strategy that is called upon when messages must be conveyed
with little language
 seen during very early stages of L2 development
 E.g one form/one meaning (multiple form/meaning are though)
 Have.. Eat….. Ownership
II. Overgeneralization-- involves the application of a form or rule not only to contexts where it
applies in the target language, but also to others where it does not apply.
E.g morphology, ing, ed
I don’t know why people always talking me.
so yesterday I didn’t painting.

27. Conti…
III. Restructuring---is the process of self-reorganization of grammar knowledge representations.
learners may seem to “backslide” and produce “errors”
They did not seem to produce earlier, producing a pattern known as U-shaped behavior.
E.g spoke-speaked- spoke

28. Conti…
 Fossilization-- - refer to cases when L2 development comes to a seemingly permanent stop.
 A 'fossilized' error is an error that has become a habit, part of a student's repertoire, and used
subconsciously as if it were the correct form………. (Should be walk)
 Two perspective of Fossilization
1. fossilization is the inevitable end result of all L2 learning.
2. fossilization is a premature termination of learning that affects some learners but not others.

29. II. Factors that help explain individual differences
A) Foreign Language aptitude- psychological formulation behind the intuition that some people
have a gift while others have not.
 MLAT (Carrol, 1981) is commonly used.
 Two challenges limited our ability to understand L2 aptitude in the past:
1) Less effort for the construct and much effort for developing tests that measure it
2) the difficulty of extracting the cognitive abilities from
the conative,
and contextual affordances of L2 environment

30. Conti…
Traditional
intelligence
Academic
abilities
Language
aptitude
The 3 constructs
shoud be
studied in its
own right
Early First
Language
Ability
Substrate of
Grammatical
sensitivity

31. Conti…
 Success of L2 learning depends on memory capacities
 Memory alone is thought to help predict how well people will learn new vocabulary (depth
and width)
 However, a complex picture of memory and differential L2 facility and success were not still
found out.
“Good memory may boost learning of vocabulary first, and confer an advantage in the learning of
surface grammatical phenomena (but perhaps not all rules alike) later in the course of L2 study.”

32. Dilemmas of L2 Aptitude
I. Does it matters (only or mostly) for late starters?
II. Does it have strong influence like
 Memory (storage and access)
 implicit and explicit ways of processing the new
material?

33. B. Motivation
Motivation-- refers to the desire to initiate L2 learning and the effort
employed to sustain it.
 Dimensions of motivation
 motivational quantity (e.g. Gardner’s AMTB),
 motivational quality (e.g. Noels and colleagues’ LLOS)
 and antecedents of motivation (orientations and attitudes).
are measured by using questioners.

34. Conti..
 Integrativeness is ‘a genuine interest in learning the second language
in order to come closer to the other language community’ (Gardner,
2001)
 drive to close the gap or discrepancy between the actual self and an
ideal self (highly L2 motivated individuals)

35. Conti..
 Among many antecedents of motivation ,
I. broad motives to learn (or orientations)
II. and social perceptions towards the target L2 and community (or
attitudes) are emphasized
 Orientations and attitudes vary across contexts for L2 learning,
 Including SL Vs FL contexts,
 unilingual versus multilingual contexts,
 and contexts where the L2 has attached symbolic values related to
globalization or to immediate political conflict.

36. What boosts motivation?
 Gardner’s motivation model investigating diverse contexts.
 Positive attitudes towards
 the learning context
 the L2 community culture
 Current satisfaction with teachers and instruction
(Dörnyei, 1994)

37. III. Social Dimensions of L2 learning
Since the mid-1990s, there is an ongoing social turn in SLA
that has its roots
 in social constructivism,
 Socio-culturalism and
Post-structuralism
“ we can only understand L2 learning if we examine it fully
embedded in its social context.”

38. Social Dimensions of L2
• Cognition is social
Vygotyskian socio cultural theory
• Interaction is social
Conversational analysis
• Grammar is social
Systemic functional linguistics
• Learning is social
Language socialization Theory
• Sense of Self is social
Identity Theory

39. Conti….
A) Socio- cultural theory of SLA advocates L2 Learning is achieved when
I. Construction of knowledge is enabled
II. self-regulation is facilitated and negotiated through different kinds of
mediation
B) CA-for SLA proposes that a number of categories.. Interaction is social
 error,
 negotiation for meaning,
 learner identity,
 linguistic expertise have no constant value but are made relevant or
irrelevant a new in each local interaction and each turn at-talk

40. Conti….
C) Systemic Functional Linguistics
 respecifies grammar as a social semiotic (as the social action of
meaning making).
 to describe the textual challenges of L2 learners (Less investigated
though)
D) Language Socialization Theory
 sees language learning and social learning as constitutive of each other

41. Language socialization theory

Through social activity
with willing experts
Language knowledge
Membership
Legitimacy in a given
community
Newcomers gain

42. E) Identity Theory
 reconceptualises sense of self as socially constructed and
socially constrained
shows how this construct helps explain different language
learning trails and their outcomes.
 Identity,
 ideology and
 power are intertwined and help understand L2 learning.

43. Role of Technology
Technology-based communication affords L2 learners
 Rich opportunities
 for identity negotiation and reconstruction and
 social and cultural learning,
 as well as unique support for literacy
development.

44. Strong sides of the book
 The book can serve as a working tool for graduates and for researchers
 Many insights in each section has presented
 Different exceptional SLA experiences (may or may not be still supported by
research findings) and learning scenarios are included.
 As the field is inter-disciplinary, L1 and L2 issues are looked thoroughly bringing
ideas from psychology, philosophy applied linguistics and others
 It points potential areas which SLA researchers have not yet investigated
 Books for beginners and advanced learners are recommended at the end of each
section

45. Issues should have been taken into account
 The presence of many technical jargons and concepts
 absence of Glossary
 some sections could have been merged
 Instead of writing this book aims at addressing the needs
of graduate students and researchers at the same time , it
is better to make it two books for each.
It may ease the burden of graduates, especially.